Manny Yekutiel says he’s out of the race for supervisor. His campaign, it seems, isn’t.
San Francisco law requires candidates who end their campaigns to return their public financing dollars. But two weeks after Yekutiel announced he was ending his campaign for supervisor amid sexual assault allegations, he has yet to return the $255,000 in taxpayer funds he received from the city.
The legal question hinges on whether Yekutiel’s campaign has truly ended or merely suspended its activities.
The San Francisco Ethics Commission says Yekutiel’s campaign maintains that it has only suspended operations, a distinction that could allow it to hold onto the public money until after Election Day.
“A representative of Mr. Yekutiel’s committee asserted to the Commission on October 9, 2026, that Mr. Yekutiel has suspended certain activities, but his campaign has not shut down, he continues to employ staff and maintain a campaign headquarters, that currently suspended activities may restart at any time, and he may still win the nomination,” the commission wrote in a public notice Thursday (opens in new tab) about its public financing program.
The claim that Yekutiel’s campaign headquarters is still operating is difficult to reconcile with the appearance of his 24th Street headquarters in Noe Valley, (opens in new tab) where all campaign signage removed. Blank paper covers the windows, and from the outside, it appears vacant.
Manny Yekutiel’s headquarters appears dormant Monday, despite his campaign’s claims to the San Francisco Ethics Commission that it is active. | Source: Courtesy photo
San Franciscans approved a public campaign financing program in 2000 (opens in new tab), through a measure placed on the ballot by the Ethics Commission. The aim was simple: provide candidates for the Board of Supervisors with public funding so they could reduce the influence of pay-to-play donors on local elections.
Yekutiel raised $522,000 (opens in new tab) in private contributions, a blockbuster sum that surpassed that of any recent Board of Supervisors campaign. But he also netted $255,000 in public financing, the maximum allowed under city law. His campaign has spent $333,000, according to the most recent Ethics Commission data.
Yekutiel ended his candidacy for the Board of Supervisors this month after The Standard reported new sexual assault allegations against him. Yekutiel’s support cratered: Mayor Daniel Lurie and numerous other politicos withdrew their endorsements. Some backed Yekutiel’s rivals, Rep. Nancy Pelosi senior staffer Gary McCoy and DoorDash staffer Darshini Patel.
But, curiously, Yekutiel’s messaging quietly changed after he announced that he was withdrawing.
Yekutiel posted a screenshot to Instagram containing text that said, “I have made the difficult decision to end my campaign for District 8 Supervisor,” using the word “end.” But in the caption of that post, which Instagram indicated had been edited, he said he “suspended my campaign.”
The photo showing text saying Yekutiel made the decision to “end my campaign” is visible on Instagram as of Thursday (opens in new tab).
In a screenshot of an Instagram post from Manny Yekutiel, he uses both terms “ended” and “suspended” his campaign. | Source: Courtesy photo
The word choice carries legal implications for Yekutiel.
The city’s Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code contains a specific provision about candidates who have “withdrawn their candidacy.” under the provision, candidates who withdraw must repay the city “the full sum of public funds.”
“Withdrawal” of a campaign, under the law, is defined as “ending one’s candidacy” or failing to qualify for candidacy in the first place.
That means if Yekutiel’s campaign maintains that it is still active, it can retain the public financing until after Election Day. After Nov. 3, all candidates who received public financing are legally required to use remaining funds in their campaign accounts to repay the city, up to the amount of public financing they received. If they have only $10,000 remaining, that’s all they have to pay.
Jane Natoli, co-hair of the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club (opens in new tab), a prominent group that backed Yekutiel’s opponent, McCoy, said it was “highly unusual” that Yekutiel’s campaign was seeking to hold onto public financing.
“I’m not an attorney, but it certainly strikes me as unusual, and a little unsavory, to go back a week later and say, ‘Actually, we’re not quite done,’” Natoli said. “Why do you need this money? What’s gone out the door already? If you’ve suspended your campaign, what are you paying campaign staff for?”
When asked whether Yekutiel’s campaign was suspended, his spokesperson, Jeffry Pennock, said, “The status of the campaign is that it’s suspended, period. That is correct, unequivocally so.”
With a few exceptions, public financing dollars may legally be spent only on campaign-related activities. Whatever Yekutiel’s plan for the public’s money is, the Ethics Commission will review his campaign finances after the election to determine whether any public funds must be repaid.
“All candidates that receive public financing undergo an audit following the election, and through that process we determine whether candidates are required to reimburse the city any portion of the funds it received,” Ethics Commission Director Patrick Ford told The Standard.